Building a Culture of Gender Equality

Mr Speaker, I stand today to talk about gender inequality. I am aware that a great deal has already been said in this Chamber about gender inequality. But, Mr Speaker, despite all of these words, there is still more that needs to be said and there is still more that needs to be done.

Singapore, like every other country, remains deeply divided by gender, with gender having a visible and invisible impact on how every one of us live our life. Gender has an influence on the careers we choose, how much we get paid, our role in personal and professional relationships; our role as parents and caregivers; our ability to participate in decisions that affect our lives; our status in society; our safety at home and on the streets; our health; our finances; and our housing.

Mr Speaker, it is almost impossible to think of an aspect of life that is not influenced by gender. This, however, is not all bad news.

Men and women are different. We are biologically different, and we are also different because of how we are raised and the roles, expectations and assumptions that society, culture and religion ascribe to gender. And, Mr Speaker, many of these differences are positive and need to be celebrated and reinforced. I do not want to live in a world where men and women are identical to each other, as that would be dull, unproductive and inconsistent with many deeply held social, cultural and religious beliefs.

Gender equality does not mean that men and women are the same. What it does mean is that a person's rights and opportunities do not depend on being male or female, but on their individual preferences, character and skills.

Mr Speaker, our Government's commitment to the equality of women can be traced back to 1959, when five women were elected to Singapore's Legislative Assembly. Since then, other significant milestones include enactment of the Women's Charter in 1961; establishment of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations in 1980; accession to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1995; launch of the Conversations on Singapore Women's Development initiative in 2020; Year of Celebrating SG Women in 2021. More recently, the 2022 release of the White Paper on Singapore Women's Development outlines Singapore's commitment to a fair, equitable and inclusive society for all women.

Mr Speaker, the above initiatives are commendable and clearly demonstrate Singapore's strong and ongoing commitment to the equality of women and receive my unwavering endorsement. And, as the Vice President of Singapore Muslim Women's Association (PPIS), an organisation that was formed in 1952, I have seen first-hand the transformative power of our efforts.

Mr Speaker, both men and women benefit from gender equality and both men and women suffer from gender inequality. And, importantly, both men and women have a role to play in addressing gender inequality. Women cannot solve gender inequality without men and men cannot solve gender inequality without women.

Mr Speaker, as many of us will recall, International Women's Day is celebrated every year on 8 March. This year, the International Women's Day campaign theme was "Inspire Inclusion". While I agree with the campaign "that we need to understand and value women's inclusion", I do not believe that we can inspire or achieve inclusion, for women, if we do not include men in the conversation. We need to talk with men and boys, about gender and gender inequality, and have them as equal contributors as we build a culture of gender equality. If men are part of the problem – and sometimes they are – it makes sense to have them as part of the solution.

Mr Speaker, failure to respectfully and effectively engage with men and boys about gender inequality means that their views, opinions and ideas remain unheard. This means that we are designing solutions with incomplete data. It can also lead to men criticising or undermining gender equality and to men being excluded, abandoned or left behind in the debate about gender equality.

Mr Speaker, failure to respectfully and effectively engage with men and boys about gender inequality means that their views, opinions and ideas remain unheard. This means that we are designing solutions with incomplete data. It can also lead to men criticising or undermining gender equality and to men feeling excluded, abandoned, or left behind in the debate about gender equality.

Mr Speaker, a recent survey by Ipsos, in collaboration with the Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King's College London for International Women's Day, showed that 48% of Singaporeans "think that we have gone so far in promoting women's equality that we are discriminating against men". Interestingly, but probably not surprisingly, 57% of Singaporean men echoed this sentiment, in contrast to 29% of women."

Mr Speaker, failure to respectfully and effectively engage with men and boys can also lead to a climate a culture of hyper or alpha masculinity, and dangerous notions of what it is to be a man. I am sure that many of my hon parliamentarian colleagues have heard of Mr Andrew Tate. Mr Tate is a 37 year old English-American influencer. He had over 8.5 million followers on X, formerly Twitter, and his TikTok videos have been viewed 11.6 billion times.

In his videos, Mr Tate says that women belong in the home, cannot drive and are a man's property; women deserve to be physically, sexually and emotionally abused; and that sexual assault victims share responsibility for their assaults. Despite claiming that many of his comments were intended as a joke and have been taken out of context, his popularity on social media clearly shows that people are listening to him. And, Mr Speaker, I strongly suspect that many of these people are men and boys.

Mr Speaker, much has been said and written about the negative impact of gender inequality on women, so I thought it might be helpful to also highlight some of the negative impacts on men. In doing so, I am not in any way shying away from the fact that it is overwhelmingly women who bear the burden of gender inequality. It is women who are constantly over-represented in data about disadvantage, prejudice and violence. The purpose of highlighting the impact on men is not to negate the impact of gender inequality on women, nor to excuse men for what can be appalling and dangerous attitudes and behaviour, but to let men know that they will also be better off if we address gender inequality.

Mr Speaker, according to the 2024 Australian Man Box survey, men have measurably higher mortality and morbidity rates than women. Men die younger than women, and have higher rates of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Men have higher rates of alcohol and substance abuse, are more frequently the victims and perpetrators of violent crime, drive dangerously and die in car accidents more often, are less likely to seek personal or health support and engage in risk-taking behaviour both in public and at work.

Men also have far higher rates of self-harm and suicide. Data from the Samaritans of Singapore shows that in 2022 there were 476 deaths by suicide, of which 317, or just over 66%, were men.

Mr Speaker, harmful gender norms also have a profound impact on violent and abusive behaviour by men. Men who ascribe to patriarchal notions of masculinity are more likely to be hostile or violent towards women, both at home and in the community.

Mr Speaker, addressing traditional gender norms and the construction of masculinity, will have a positive impact on not only the health and well-being of men, but also on the safety and well-being of women and the broader community. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on Government and community spending on health, policing and associated welfare services. To address traditional gender norms and the construction of masculinity, we need to talk with men.

Mr Speaker, now that I have outlined some of the negative impacts of gender inequality on men, I will now outline some of the benefits to men of addressing gender inequality. I am doing so, because it is important that men recognise that they too will benefit from a culture of gender equality. At present, far too many men think that gender equality is only relevant to women, or worse, that gender equality is making things worse for men.

Mr Speaker, men benefit in many ways from a culture of gender equality and a reframing of masculinity. They benefit personally, through enhanced physical and emotional health and well-being.

Men benefit from more fulfilling and successful personal relationships with their wives and children. Greater flexibility with respect to gender-based roles, responsibilities and norms within relationships, assists relationships to become more egalitarian and more emotionally and physically fulfilling for both partners.

Mr Speaker, men also benefit when the girls and women they care about have fairer, safer and more fulfilling lives, careers and relationships. Most men want the women in their lives to be safe from harassment and abuse, to be able to pursue a career of choice and to be treated and paid the same as their male counterparts, and to find love in relationship that is based on mutual respect and genuine partnership.

We need to harness the inherent protectiveness that men frequently have towards women, without inadvertently reinforcing the unhelpful notion that women are helpless creatures who cannot survive without a man, or that women should be placed on a pedestal and treated as a possession.

Men also benefit from friendships, communities and workplaces with greater gender diversity and equality, and from the invaluable and unique perspectives and contributions that women bring to these systems. Men can learn a great deal from women, just as women can learn a great deal from men. And, of course, Mr Speaker, men benefit from lower rates of incarceration and criminal or social sanctions due to problematic or unlawful behaviour towards women, including physical and sexual assault and abuse, and domestic violence.

Mr Speaker, a culture of gender equality also brings significant benefits to Singapore as a nation. A culture of gender equality will assist to make Singapore's institutions, businesses and workplaces more representative, and therefore more productive and profitable. At the same time, a culture of gender equality will assist to create a society where relationships between all people, including between men and women, are based on respect, fairness and equity, rather than an outdated and dangerous power-based norms on stereotypes.

Mao Zedong is frequently quoted as saying: "Women hold up half the sky". In an ideal word this is true, however, in reality, I suspect that the ratio is not so equal or fair. Mr Speaker, in some areas of contemporary life, women hold up 100% of the sky, and in others almost zero.

Mr Speaker, I would like to conclude with four suggestions for a way forward.

First and foremost, we need to respectfully, effectively and comprehensively engage with boys and men. We need to talk with men, we need to listen to men and we need to support men to be part of the journey as we build a culture of gender equality. Men need to be and feel that they are equal and valued stakeholders in discussions and decisions about gender equality.

Mr Speaker, we need to engage with men from all cultural, social, racial and economic backgrounds. We also need to engage with boys. Boys are taught, observe and model gender stereotypes and norms at a very early age, while at home, at school, in sport and in public. If we want to influence how boys turn into men in Singapore, we need to start early. And I do not mean just telling boys about what is right and wrong but sitting down with boys and listening to them and learning from their views and opinions.

Mr Speaker, my second suggestion relates to men being role models. Gender equality is not the responsibility of other men, it is the responsibility of all men. We need more men, including men in positions of authority, influence and respect to be role models and ambassadors for gender equality. Business leaders, politicians, teachers, coaches, and sport and music stars – all can have a significant impact on shifting the attitudes and behaviours of other men and boys.

As part of being a role model and ambassador, we need more men to step forward and state publicly and proudly how they can do things differently. I call on my hon male colleagues in the Chamber today to step forward and be part of this campaign.

Mr Speaker, my suggestions may inaccurately suggest that I have let women off the hook. Far from it. While women are, without a doubt, at substantial and disproportionate disadvantage as a result of gender norms, they also have an important role to play in challenging and addressing gender norms.

One important aspect of this role is for women to be vigilant about either deliberately or inadvertently reinforcing the notion of toxic masculinity. While many men do need to change their attitudes and behaviour towards women, it is unhelpful if the only message that men get are that gender inequality is their fault and that everything they do is wrong or inadequate. It is also unhelpful for women to deliberately adopt or reinforce gender stereotypical norms. Just like men, women also need reflect on how they may be contributing to gender inequality and how they can do things differently.

Mr Speaker, my third suggestion relates to the empowerment of men. I understand that many may find this an odd suggestion, as it often quite often accurately said that men hold too much power and that they can sometimes use this power to the disadvantage of women.

Mr Speaker, the Canadian International Development Agency defines empowerment as "empowerment is about people – both women and men – taking control over their lives: setting their own agendas, gaining skills, building self-confidence, solving problems and developing self-reliance."

It is with this definition in mind that I am arguing that we need to empower more men to step outside the dominant gender norm and to have permission to adopt attitudes and behaviours that may not be considered as traditionally masculine.

Consider the role of men as caregivers. Mr Speaker, in 2022 the National Council of Social Services "Quality of Life of Caregivers" study showed that only 30% of men are caregivers, compared to 70% of women. This is despite the 2023 State of the World's Fathers report that showed that both men and women want care to be central to their lives. These results suggest that men do want to play an active caring role as husbands, fathers and sons, yet are constrained from doing so.

While in Singapore the number of stay-home dads has increased, we need to do more to develop an environment that promotes men adopting caring roles within the family and community, and that such work by men is normal, acceptable and important.

Mr Speaker, two decades ago, there was a comprehensive global campaign to get girls and women interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, collectively known as STEM, and then traditionally considered male professions. This campaign has slowly and steadily produced positive results, and it is now quite common to see girls and women studying and working in STEM related disciplines.

There has been no similar push, either internationally or here in Singapore, for men to study or work in traditionally female professions, such as nursing, elder care, childcare, secretarial and social work. In fact, most people have not even heard of the "HEAL" professions: health, education, administration and literacy.

Mr Speaker, just as we empowered women to become interested in STEM professions and to work alongside men in these positions, we need to empower men to become interested in HEAL professions, and for men in those positions to be accepted as a norm. Doing so not only assists break down traditional gender roles, which is, in itself, a benefit, it also opens up a suite of currently unavailable career options and roles for men. This is a good thing for men; it is a good thing for women; and it is a good thing for Singapore.

Mr Speaker, for this to happen will require a concerted effort by men, women and the broader socio-political system. Traditional gender roles can be deeply entrenched and may take many years of coordinated whole-of-Government policy and practice guidance to shift.

Mr Speaker, this leads me to my fourth and final suggestion – a National Gender Equality Framework. A National Gender Equality Framework would articulate a clear roadmap to achieve gender equality across Singapore, underpinned by clear principles and measurable outcomes.

A national framework would complement existing policy commitments to women and contain whole-of-Government policy and practice guidance to combat unlawful or dangerous gender norms or stereotypes and empower women and men to achieve their full potential within an inclusive society. Importantly, the framework would also detail how men and boys, and women and girls, of all ages and backgrounds will be meaningfully involved the development and ongoing implementation of the framework.

Mr Speaker, Singapore proudly ranks as a global leader in many areas of public and social life, including law and order, efficiency of service delivery, levels of corruption, safety and security, and racial and religious harmony. Mr Speaker, it is now time for Singapore to be a global leader when it comes to gender equality. It is time for the men and women of Singapore to stand together to hold up the sky.